Laura Lee's All In One Guide to Going CG

There are plenty of fantastic explanatory articles and such out there that will introduce you to the Curly Girl method of getting soft, frizz free, healthy curls. However, when I was new to the routine, I found that all that great information is spread out across the web! Definitely a little overwhelming to try and track down. So I thought that I would do my best to bring everything that I know about getting started on the method to one place.

So perhaps you were on naturallycurly.com, the de facto headquarters of the method and an absolute treasure trove of information, and you just wanted some product recommendations or a cut that would help you tame your curly hair. Maybe you heard about the Curly Girl method from a friend or coworker. Maybe you eagerly looked at the WikiHow article on how to follow it or went to your library or Barnes and Noble to pick up the book that inspired it all.

No matter how you found out about the Curly Girl method, I guarantee that once you found out about it you had some mixed feelings. You heard about not shampooing and no silicones and plopping and pixiecurling and sulfates and surfactants and probably got a little overwhelmed unless you happened to get a degree in chemistry.

I want to straighten everything out in one place. Read on, and perhaps you’ll find out that the Curly Girl method is exactly what you and your curls have been searching for!

WHAT DOES CG MEAN? WHO CAME UP WITH IT?

“CG” is the abbreviation for the Curly Girl method of caring for curly hair. It was developed by Lorraine Massey, owner of the Devachan Salon in New York City. She’s considered one of the foremost experts in curly hair care.

WHAT DOES THE METHOD DO TO YOUR HAIR?

CG does not work for everyone, but when it does work, the results are absolutely startling. Check out the before and after thread on the CurlTalk forum on naturallycurly.com. Many people find that when they follow the CG method, their once frizzy, dry, damaged curls transform into well hydrated, glossy, soft, bouncy curls that are every bit as healthy as they look.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND CURLY GIRL

Here is why the method works so well. It is completely scientifically based.

Most commercial shampoos contain sulfates. Check the ingredient label on your shampoo bottle. Odds are, it contains something like “Sodium Laureth Sulfate” or “Sodium Laurel Sulfate” or “Ammonium Laurel Sulfate.” Perhaps you already knew this.

What you probably don’t realize is that if you check the ingredients list on your favorite dish detergent, odds are it also contains something like “Sodium Laureth Sulfate” or “Sodium Laurel Sulfate” or “Ammonium Laurel Sulfate.”

That’s right. The stuff that you’re putting in your hair is the same stuff you’re using to scrub the meatloaf off of the dinnerware.

The above products seem like they have nothing in common. But a quick look at the ingredients labels reveals something striking.

Why in the world would they put dish detergent ingredients in shampoo, you ask? It’s simple: sulfates are surfactants. Surfactants are molecules that can reduce tension between oil and water. To put it simply: they are highly effective grease fighters. They can cut through oil and grime and leave the things they touch oil-free.

So maybe now you’re thinking, well if it cuts grease, I guess it’s ok for my hair.

Wrong. And here’s why.

Curly hair is fundamentally different from straight hair. Ever wonder why your friends with straight hair have glossy, shiny hair while yours is dull and frizzy? Biologically speaking, straight hair is naturally better moisturized. Straight-haired people have a head start on us curlies in terms of moisture! This is because the oil secreted by the sebaceous glands in your scalp can’t travel down your hair as well as it can for straight hair. The results? Straight hair looks glossy and healthy while curly hair looks dry and frizzy, often with an oily scalp to boot.

Not fair, right? Well it gets more unfair. Curly hair is also more porous than straight hair. This means that there are more tiny holes in the cuticle layer of your hair strands. Where does that leave you? Those harsh sulfates that are in your shampoos get into these little holes. It’s very difficult to get them out. That means that not only are the sulfates stripping your hair of nearly all of its natural oil that it so desperately needs (since it doesn’t get as much from the scalp as straight hair does), but the sulfate molecules are actually getting into your hair strands and causing even more long term damage.

The overall result of using sulfate-based shampoos to clean your hair is that your hair looks dull and dry because it is completely starved for oil and moisture, while though those lucky straight-haired people can use sulfates and still look well moisturized because they have a head start on moisture and the sulfates don’t get into their hair shafts.

How can we fix this problem?

HOW CAN YOU GET YOUR HAIR CLEAN WITHOUT DESTROYING IT WITH SULFATES?

There’s really good news for curlies. We can simply not shampoo our hair. We still wash it and it still gets clean. It doesn’t smell and your scalp won’t be oily.

How?

By replacing your harsh sulfate-based shampoo wash with a gentle conditioner wash, or a co-wash as the ladies and gents on naturallycurly.com call it.

HOW DOES CONDITIONER GET YOUR HAIR CLEAN?

Conditioners contain surfactants, just like shampoo. The difference is that the surfactants in conditioners are not anywhere near as harsh and drying on your hair as sulfate surfactants are. These gentle “secondary surfactants” will lift off dirt, oil, and grime from your hair and leave it perfectly clean with some manual friction. Scrub your hair with conditioner, and it will get clean. Common secondary surfactants are cocamidopropyl betaine, sulfosuccinate, hydroxysultaine, and lauryl polyglucose.

SO IF GENTLE SURFACTANTS CLEAN YOUR HAIR, WHY DO SHAMPOOS HAVE THESE HARSH SULFATES IN THE FIRST PLACE?

As I’ve said, sulfates are very harsh surfactants that are used because they are extremely effective grease cutters. The reason that shampoo companies put sulfates in their shampoos instead of simply using gentler surfactants is because most hair products that you use to condition and style your hair contains molecules called silicones.

Silicones are all around you. They are in cookware, doctor’s offices, lubricant, electronics, insulation, and, strangely enough, hair care products. One of the most intrinsic properties of silicones is that they are not water soluble. That means that if you put silicones (there is a wide variety of different types) in water, they will not dissolve.

Silicones are used in hair products because they coat the cuticle of the hair, making the layers that compose the cuticle lay flat against the hair shaft. This means that silicones can be effective quick fixes for frizz and flyaways.

WHY ARE SILICONES BAD?

Solving frizz seems like a good thing, right? So why are silicones bad?

Silicones do not dissolve in water. They require harsh sulfates to remove them.

It’s an endless cycle of damage to your hair. You wash with sulfates, then you need silicones to calm down the hair cuticle because the sulfates are wreaking havoc, then you need to wash with sulfates to get rid of the silicones, etc etc.

If you try to simply cut out sulfates without cutting out silicones, you can do some extreme damage to your hair. The silicones, which have sealed your cuticle shut, will literally suffocate your hair shaft and could result in build up (greasy gunk) and even such extremes as hair loss if you continually used silicones without removing them.

Thus, it’s impossible to use silicones while not using sulfates.

ELIMINATE SILICONES SO YOU CAN ELIMINATE SULFATES

Fortunately, there are lots of products for conditioning and styling curly hair that are sulfate free and silicone free.

This is the basis of the CG Method. Get rid of sulfates, get rid of silicones, moisturize your hair, and see amazing results.

THERE’S NO WAY I CAN WASH MY HAIR WITH CONDITIONER…IT’S TOO GREASY!

Odds are you’re wrong. There are relatively few people who have truly naturally oily scalps to the point where their hair is truly greasy without frequent cleansing with harsh surfactants.

The reason that many curly haired people believe that they must wash their hair with shampoo every day is because their scalp is crying out for help.

Your scalp knows that it needs to produce oil to keep the hair healthy. The problem for most curly haired people is that the scalp is producing too much oil.

Why are your glands making too much oil? Once again, the answer lies in sulfates. When your hair is completely stripped of its natural oils by sulfates each and every day, your scalp goes into hyperactive mode. Your cells flip on a switch that says “Help! The hair has no oil!” and your glands dutifully respond, producing gobs of oil trying to compensate. Your glands don’t realize that all of that extra oil they put so much effort into making is just going to be stripped again anyway the next time you wash.

Hence, it’s another endless cycle brought on by the use of sulfate based shampoos. And it’s obviously not doing anything good for your hair.

HOW DO YOU START CG?

Before you do anything else, you must do one last wash with a sulfate-based shampoo to completely rid your hair of any silicones. If you skip this step, you could get silicone build up, which will leave your hair gunky. This is very important.

After you’ve washed your hair with a sulfate shampoo for the last time, it’s time to do your first co-wash. This can be done in the same shower that you do your sulfate poo in, or you can wait until the next shower. If you wait however, be aware that you can’t put in anything that has silicones in your hair afterward. So you may as well do your first co-wash and CG style in the same day as your last sulfate poo.

HOW CAN YOU TELL IF A PRODUCT IS CG FRIENDLY?

You read the ingredients label of course! Silicones are easy to spot with practice.

Silicones end with –cone, -conol, or –xane. Here’s a list of some common ones, but be aware they aren’t the only ones. None of these are water soluble, which means if you spot them in the ingredients list, that product is no good for your CG routine!

Dimethicone

Dimethiconol

Phenyl Trimethicone

Amodimethicone

Cyclomethicone

Cyclopentasiloxane

Notice that they all end with either –cone, -conol, or –xane. Make sure you don’t confuse silicones that end with these suffixes with preservatives that end in –one. Preservatives that end in –one, like methylchloroisothiazonlinone are perfectly CG friendly.

Another little complexity about silicones is that there are some that are modified to be water soluble. These cones are perfectly safe for CG hair, though some people choose to avoid them for the sake of not having to worry about build up. If a silicone is prefaced with the PEG- or PPG-, it has been modified and is water soluble. So PEG-12 Dimethicone is water soluble, for example, and ok for CG.

To sum it up: CG products will be silicone free conditioners, stylers, gels, creams, pomades, sprays, etc. The way to spot a cone is to look for –cone, -conol, or –xane at the end. If there is a PEG or PPG in front of the cone, it’s water soluble and therefore ok (though some people still avoid them). If there isn’t, it is not water soluble and will build up on your hair without sulfate removal, so they are not CG friendly.

OK, SO I DID MY LAST SULFATE POO AND I’M READY TO CO-WASH. WHAT NOW?

Pick a light, silicone free conditioner. The most popular to use to co-wash are the Suave Naturals line of conditioners (many like Suave Naturals Coconut conditioner—in fact this is what I use) and the VO5 line of conditioners (these are lighter than the Suave Naturals line). There are plenty of other options, but these two lines of conditioners are very cheap and readily available at just about any store that sells conditioner.

Here’s how to co-wash. Take a little quarter sized puddle and use the pads of your finger tips (not your nails) and scrub your scalp just as you would have done with shampoo. If you need more conditioner, use it. The amount each person will need will vary. I use 2-4 good sized puddles per wash.

After you’ve scrubbed your whole scalp with conditioner, take another small puddle and scrub the length like you would have with shampoo.

When you rinse it out, keep scrubbing. Scrubbing while rinsing ensures that all the grime an oil is being lifted away and carried away.

Now you’ve co-washed and your hair is clean and ready to go on to the next step of the CG routine.

AFTER CO-WASHING, NOW WHAT?

After co-washing, you’ll want to use a thicker, richer conditioner to moisturize your hair. The key to the success of the CG routine is moisture. This conditioner can either be entirely or partially rinsed out (if you partially rinse it out, the remainder will function as a leave in).

There are lots and lots of conditioners that are CG friendly. I personally use L’Oreal Vive Pro Nutri Gloss for Medium to Long Wavy/Curly Hair (make sure the bottle you get doesn't contain amodimethicone; some have reported find bottles of it with this bad -cone). It comes in a baby pink bottle in most places where conditioner is sold. I get mine from wal-mart. Going CG doesn’t have to cost much (although once you discover the amazing world of CG products that are available to try, you might turn into a product junkie!).

After you’ve co-washed and conditioned, you can get out of the shower.

PUT DOWN THAT BRUSH AND STEP AWAY FROM THE TERRY CLOTH!

Terrycloth and brushes are bad for your hair. Many CG girls only use their fingers to comb out. As Lorraine Massey says, your fingers were there way before the brush, so why not use them? If you have knotty hair and finger combing just won’t cut it, only use a wide-toothed comb. Bristle brushes and brushes with the little balls on the end of the spokes break up your curl pattern and cause frizz. Wide toothed combs are much gentler. Also, never ever comb your hair when it’s dry. This will definitely lead to breakage and can even be a cause of split ends. Only run something through your hair (fingers or comb) when it is completely wet and well-conditioned.

Terry cloth causes frizz in curly hair because it takes off so much of that moisture you’re working so hard to put into your hair! Instead, simply squeeze out extra water with your hands, then finger or wide tooth comb your hair. You’ll get less frizz if you use things like old t-shirts or microfiber towels on your hair. We’ll get to these options later. Lorraine recommends blotting hair with a paper towel or an old cotton t-shirt to get rid of drips. I find squeezing out water works just fine until I plop (more later).

HOW TO STYLE CG HAIR

Now your hair is all conditioned and ready to be styled with CG products. I couldn’t list all of the CG options on here if I tried. Check out the product review boards on naturallycurly for some great advice. Also, this is a great website for some ideas on products.

There are products available in any price range; all you have to do is do some research on naturallycurly, ask questions if you need help, and read the ingredients labels to find silicone free products.

The best way to find out which products could work for you is to try things, and keep track of what you’ve tried. Experimentation is the name of the game. Everyone’s hair is different. Something that works for one curly could have disastrous effects on another curly. It’s all about figuring out what your hair likes.

Another good thing to do is to join naturallycurly.com’s forums and look for people with a similar hair type to you. You can ask the people on the boards for help and I guarantee they’ll be happy to. There are no stupid questions there.

METHOD MADNESS!

There are lots of methods out there for styling your hair. Some of these include scrunching, plopping, diffusing, pixie curling, etc, etc.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the way that you apply products is just as important as what products you’re applying. Many curlies find that raking through creams while scrunching in gels is an effective strategy. Others find that scrunching in everything works best, while still others find that raking or combing everything through works best!

Many people apply their products while their hair is sopping and dripping wet. I personally don’t like to do that because I live in a dorm and I don’t want to drip a bunch of water between the shower and my room, so I squeeze out a lot of the drips when I leave the shower. Of course, once again, it’s all a matter of figuring out, through experimentation, what works for you.

Plopping, also called plunking, is a method of encouraging curl formation using a microfiber towel or an old t-shirt. I use an old long sleeved cotton t-shirt and it works great. Go to this site and watch the video called “Plunking” to learn how to do this method. I plop after applying all my styling products. Whether you choose to plop, how long you plop, what you do after you plop, how many plops you do, is again a matter of personal preference. A search of naturallycurly.com will reveal a wide variety of techniques. Some people don’t even plop at all!

Air drying is the gentlest way to style your hair. However, if you must dry it using heat, always use a diffuser. There are many different kinds of diffusers, ranging from the flat pancake diffuser to the bowl diffuser to the hot sock, and I’m afraid it’s up to your preference.

One thing that is certain about any styling routine is that once you’ve applied your products DO NOT TOUCH YOUR HAIR! The friction will cause frizz. Let it dry, don’t touch, and then scrunch out the crunch caused by your gel, and then don’t touch it any more. This will greatly cut down on frizz.

CG is all about tailoring a routine that works just for you. Checking out people’s signatures on Curl Talk is a great way to get routine ideas.

CLARIFYING

Sometimes no matter how careful we are with avoiding silicones, our hair just gets some build up or gets overconditioned and needs to be clarified. There are several options that don’t involve sulfates, including shampoo bars, vinegar rinses, low poos, and no poos.

TRANSITION PERIOD

There will be a period of time in which you hair may actually look worse after starting CG. This is caused by your scalp not adjusting to the lack of sulfates as fast as you’re changing what you’re doing to your hair. Try to keep your routine very simply at first. Just a co-wash, a rinse out/leave in, and a clear gel (the herbal essences line of gels is CG friendly and cheap: there's Totally Twisted, Set Me Up, and Body Envy) will start you off just fine. This period of time can last anywhere from a couple of days to 6 weeks. Do not give up hope. Your scalp will eventually settle down and you will see the results you want.

WAVIES AND MODIFIED CG

Wavy hair is in between curly and straight, and so while CG may work for some wavies, it sometimes does not work for others. Wavies are not as porous as curlies and they often have more moisturized hair to start.

Many people find that they have more success with modified CG. This means that they bend the rules of CG just slightly. They still avoid sulfates and silicones, but use a clarifier like a low poo or a shampoo bar more often.

I am not a wavy and cannot give any good advice on the matter, but I can tell you what others know from experience. This is taken from the naturallycurly thread on “Introduction to the No Poo Method”

The author concedes to the fact that some people may have to continue using shampoo (hopefully a lot less often than before) because of an oily scalp, this is usually more common in those with wavy hair. To avoid drying the hair, here's the CG way to use shampoo:

1) Wet hair under a gentle shower. 2) Take a tablespoon of CO and using your fingers, lightly coat your hair from the ends to the midshaft. This hair has been around longer than the hair at the roots and needs more lubrication. The CO protects the hair by not allowing shampoo to penetrate and dehydrate the shaft. 3) If you're using shampoo, squeeze a half teaspoon* (no more) onto your fingertips and apply it gently to the scalp and roots only. don't use your nails. Start at the forehead and work around the

scalp, then rinse thoroughly. 4) Add a half teaspoon of CO to your hair and work it through with your fingers. Then rinse quickly, for just a few seconds. No you're ready to blot-dry your hair.

*Diluting this amount in an ounce of water or so makes it much easier to distribute and gentler to the scalp

GO EXPLORE THE CG WORLD!

There you have it. That’s everything I know in detail that will get you going on the Curly Girl path. I hope you will give it a try because the science behind it is proven and it can truly transform your hair. Check out the before and after pictures here. There is an absolute wealth of information and friendly people who want to help you love your curls on naturallycurly.com so I hope you join the forum and stay. Good luck, and happy curls!